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According to analysis of a leaked build of Windows Blue, and ratified by anonymous sources who are familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Windows Blue (8.1) will include the option to boot straight to the desktop — and possibly the much-loved Start button, too.

A couple of days ago, a new variable called twinui-CanSuppressStartScreen was discovered, buried deep within Windows 8.1 build 9364 (aka Windows Blue). While the leaked build doesn’t actually have the option of bypassing the Start screen — it’s just a fleeting mention in a core DLL file at the moment — the purpose of the variable is rather unambiguous. Furthermore, anonymous sources have told both The Verge and ZDNet that Microsoft is testing builds of Windows 8.1 that allow you to bypass the Start screen, with the option being off by default. This isn’t a confirmation that the final build of Windows Blue will include the option to boot straight to the Desktop, but we should know for certain once the Windows Blue Preview is released in June.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, ZDNet’s source also says that Microsoft is “considering bringing back the Start button as an option with Windows Blue.” Like the Start screen bypass, the resurrected Start button and menu would almost certainly be disabled by default. Due to extensive keyboard shortcut collisions, I doubt there’ll be the option of mixing and matching, either: If you decide to re-enable the Start button, the new Start screen would be disabled entirely — and vice versa.

Both of these options, if they find their way into the final build of Windows Blue, would be an implicit admission from Microsoft that it got the Windows 8 mouse-and-keyboard experience horribly wrong. Ever since Microsoft introduced the Metro Start screen in September 2011, and later announced that it would remove the Start button and menu, the company has steadfastly claimed that these interface changes would not negatively impact conventional mouse-and-keyboard Desktop users. These Desktop users, as I’m sure you’re aware, continue to vehemently and vociferously claim otherwise. From the get-go, Desktop users have striven to find ways of bringing back the Start menu and booting to the Desktop. Third-party apps, such as Start8 and Pokki, which reintroduce a Windows 7-like Start button and boot-to-Desktop, have seen millions of downloads since Windows 8’s public release.

The simple fact of the matter is that the Start screen is a pig to control with a mouse and keyboard, and if you don’t have a touchscreen device there’s very little reason to boot to the Start screen rather than the Desktop. The users have known this for a while, and it seems Microsoft is finally, albeit grudgingly, coming around.

The weird bit, though, is that Microsoft has always known that conventional non-touch PC users don’t like the Metro interface. During the Windows 8 beta process, Microsoft made it very clear that it performs thousands of hours of human tests on interface changes. There is simply no way that the test subjects universally liked the new Metro interface. But still, Microsoft swept the negative feedback under the rug and forged ahead with the murder of the Start button and menu. Not with malicious, recalcitrant intent, of course, but because it had no other choice: Microsoft had to forcefully convert its ginormous horde of Windows XP, Vista, and 7 users to the new touch-first Metro paradigm to have a hope in hell of challenging Android and iOS in the mobile space. Microsoft knew that if it gave users the choice of sticking with the Start button and menu, the Metro interface would have died a swift death, taking with it Microsoft’s future in the consumer space.

Tagged In

Finally. I dislike Windows 8, in that I can’t get a feel for it with my desktop. My PC isn’t a smartphone!!!!

max999

Well it’s a Start ……………..Menu!

LOL!!!

Elijah Thomas

Right you are;)

rtqp

Give customers what they ask for, or drive them off. Don’t treat them as a captive audience; a poker chip to save your own behind.

mori bund

Respecting your costumer and taking his wishes seriously?
That’s such a revolutionary but strange idea – it might even work… ^^

Joe_HTH

LOL! They’re already driving their customers off. Tablets and smartphones are taking over, and Microsoft’s pumping out a non-touch Windows 7 every 3 years is going to get them slaughtered by Apple and Google. Not having a competitive tablet and touch OS is a death knell for Microsoft, but desktop loving idiots like you don’t see that. Microsoft is on a long road to death because they have to cater to the whims of whiny idiots who won’t accept change, and a legacy culture that is going to kill them. The desktop market is dying, but I guess Microsoft can make a killing until it does. Maybe that’s what you want.

rtqp

The desktop is most certainly not dying. Once you turn 22 and get a real job, you’ll find the vast majority of business still — and will continue to — depend heavily on desktops. Tablets are an addition, not a replacement…. and since everyone already has a desktop, tablets are kicking Desktop’s behind for the moment. It’ll taper off in a few years.

Though I can see grandmas and little kiddies using tablets instead of PCs… you know, people who just mouth off on the internet, instead of doing 3D modeling, video editing, serious typesetting…. etc….

Greg G

Ironically every person I have seen with a tablet has been pushing 60 or older or in secondary school or younger. I got my first close up of an Ipad a while back and I simply said, there are no ports on this, what the hell can I do with it?

Joe_HTH

“The desktop is most certainly not dying. Once you turn 22 and get a real job”

LOL! I’m 35 and have a real job you idiot. Tablets, for the most part, can replace the desktop in functionality. It’s not going to taper off. The PC will continue to decline as touch devices become the main computer form factor of the future. Of course, Microsoft has killed any chances they have of competing in this market, and are now stuck with a bloated, non-touch OS that does nothing to address that market. Microsoft might as well become another IBM.

rtqp

Cooking fries, I’m guessing. Please re-read my post more carefully. Tablets are fine for checking email and surfing the web… but, well, have you ever heard of SolidWorks? Adobe After Effects? How do those run on your infantile touchscreen device?

http://twitter.com/Daves_Desk Hmmmm

They would run fine on my infantile Lenovo Yoga i7 8GB 256GB SSD which I’m currently using in tablet mode. Once I’m done here I can flip to laptop mode, and for more serious work, dock with dual monitors with external keyboard and mouse. Get Windows 8 with the right hardware and it starts to make more sense.

rtqp

How many grand did that rig set you back? Now, multiply that by an office of 40, and factor in that anywhere from 5-10 will have some sort of issue within a year or two.

Then factor in how you have to throw out the whole tablet if something breaks, since they’re not designed to be repairable or have replaceable parts.

Now that you’ve priced it out, try and sell this IT solution to a local CAD outfit……

It makes sense for an office to possibly pick up a few for lab work or other specialized tasks, but as it stands, they’re too expensive, too hard to repair, and too fragile to make sense for everyone in the office. I suspect you’re speaking from a position of privilege; you paid for the hardware yourself and then drag it into work to show off. Bully for you.

rtqp

I’m looking to get a Creaform, Inc Handyscan and SolidWorks running on my iPad. Please help.

dinges

Dude, you probably only look at pictures, send emails, take a couple of memos etc. Your definition of real work on tablets & smart phones is my definition of what my kid does at school. Tablets and smart phones makes multimedia, the internet and BASIC communication more mobile. That’s it. Yes, I agree that tablets and smart phones are increasing in popularity and taking a part of the market – but it can’t completely replace the desktop. A couple of years ago we only had one monitor…now people are sitting with at least two monitors to do work on – more geared up techs have up to 3 or 4 monitors. Your real job sounds more like a sales type job – where these other 10″max devices work perfectly….
try a real job out in your next life ;) :p

Iiro Laiho

“Tablets, for the most part, can replace the desktop in functionality.”

Well, what about those parts that are vital for an industrialized civilization?

Joe N

Yup, everyone in the world is just going to dump their laptop/desktop and do everything on a tablet/iphone… No need for servers, desktops, laptops, document software, ERP systems, databases, CAD software, graphical design software or anything. Everyone will just live off of tablets/phones and an app store with a million versions of Angry Birds.

One day when you grow up an realize people use computers for more than web browsing and file sharing you’ll realize that desktops aren’t being replaced by tablets or phones.

Joe_HTH

Yeah, there’s none of that available in Windows 8. Enterprise can’t do anything with Windows 8 but use Metro apps. What a complete moron. I can’t take a tool like you seriously who uses phrases like “an app store with a million versions of Angry Birds” That’s the stuff of idiocy.

“One day when you grow up an realize people use computers for more than web browsing and file sharing you’ll realize that desktops aren’t being replaced by tablets or phones.”

I’m more grown up than you dumbass. It’s already happening. 90% of people use Windows for web browsing, online shopping, Office productivity, Facebook or Twitter, email, etc. All of that can be done on a tablet just as well as on a desktop PC.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

Once the votes are read, the decision is final. The person being voted out will be asked to leave the Tribal Council Area immediately. I’ll read
the
votes. First vote…
Joe_HTH

http://profile.yahoo.com/LYLO5ZGKVQOOLI543M2VVRQN7A Random

What’s laughable is people that think the desktop is going anywhere.

Joe_HTH

Yes, that continually declining PC market share must mean that the PC market is about to have a resurgence. You people can’t see the forest for the trees.

Joe N

Actually that declining PC market is the effect of a Windows 8 flop and the pure fact that Moore’s law has made it unnecessary to upgrade PC’s at the rate they used to. PC’s now come with enough power to make them relevant through multiple OS upgrades, unlike in the past when a new OS typically meant a whole new system. Not to mention the small percentage of the market share that has started using low power Linux versions so they can make their underpowered hardware last longer. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about when it comes to the IT world and how the majority of PC’s are used in that world and everything you have posted thus far has confirmed that. Have a great day moron.

Dude there is NO WAY the tablet/smarties can replace completely a desktop. I dont even know where you get that. The most powerfull tablet will always be inferior to the most powerful desktop. Sure sales are going down, but its not only computers lots of sectors are experiencing a drop in sales. So dont get exited to fast. PC’s are irreplaceable for now, and when they day comes, it wont be a tablet.

jburt56

Is M$ feeling the force?

Joe_HTH

No, they’re about to slit their own wrists.

w_km

When Windows 8.1 comes out, PC sales will go back up (they can’t go down a whole lot more), but NOT because Microsoft finally releases 8.1. Rather, the release of Haswell and many other consumer-aware factors (longer PC upgrade cycles…it’s finally worth while to upgrade from vista-aged PCs, affordable SSDs, increase in laptop screen resolution and quality, etc). Windows 8 with mods is great, windows 8.1 better live up to our expectations!

Joe_HTH

Dude, the desktop is dying. Tablets and smartphones are killing the desktop, and it’s not going to stop. Fewer and fewer people will want a giant box or a large all-in-one when they can do everything on a tablet just as well, except for maybe hardcore gaming.

LZKashmir

Games, CAD, Photoshop, and other power hungry tasks will always be favored on desktops. For the rest a tablet my suffice.

http://twitter.com/billcat42 Bill Cat

You forgot regular work. Editing without a mouse is a productivity killer, stupidest thing that has happened in technology in quite some time is people pretending they can cut and paste and select well with their fat fingers.

http://www.facebook.com/digital.razor CJ Wilson

Say “the desktop is dying” one… more… time…

w_km

Desktops will always be marketable for performance tasks. Additionally, you forget to remember that ‘PC’ may also refer to laptops. And laptops are going nowhere, dude.

http://www.facebook.com/Dicez Björn Pettersson

I’m a gamer but i would not want to do the other things i do on a
computer on a small disgusting tablet. I will always use a desktop for
any computing task and cellphones for calling and texting, maybe use it
as GPS sometimes, but i’ve never had to use it for that to this date.
I’ve used internet twice on my smartphone since i got it 2 years ago and
never again…

mindfighter15243

I too am a gamer and I work at a Bank. As it has been repeated to you many times hand held devices are ok for consuming information, but graphic design, games CAD, and in my personal experience whole banking systems cannot be run on handheld devices. PC will always have the better specs. Don’t believe that little phrase put out there for tablet people:
“we are living in the post-pc era”
Amusing…

Marrach

Folks, I hear the rumble of Service Pack 1 coming down the tracks!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Brett-Turner/1684817908 Brett Turner

This is the best news for Win8 in months. Microsoft’s irrational desire to kill the desktop is the elephant in the room, the single biggest reason why Win8 has been such a flop. If Microsoft merely tolerates the desktop, the damage will be less. If Microsoft were to embrace the desktop, at least as a option for traditional form PCs, much of the damage might still be reversed.

>Microsoft had to forcefully convert its ginormous horde of Windows XP, Vista,
>and 7 users to the new touch-first Metro paradigm

And this business of forcing customers to use an interface they hate, how is that working out for ya?

Joe_HTH

You don’t get it, and you never will. The desktop is dying, and it’s not going to stop. Touch devices, like tablets and smartphones, are going to be the dominant computer force for the future. Microsoft pumping out a non-touch, bloated desktop OS every 3 years with minimal changes or improvements, just to suit people reluctant to change, is a recipe for disaster.

The desktop should die. It’s an archaic legacy dinosaur. Legacy is responsible for all of the bloat in Windows. Legacy is responsible for Windows slowing down over time. Without legacy, Windows would be far smaller, far more nimble, far faster, more secure, and stable. Best of all it wouldn’t be bloated. Legacy is the biggest thing holding back Microsoft and Windows.

http://www.facebook.com/marc.guillotpuig Marc Guillot Puig

Yes, tablets and other formats will take a huge chunk of the end consumer PC market, but I still want a Desktop UI for my desktop PC, not a weird Tablet UI on a desktop.

By the way, legacy apps are the only reason why Microsoft & Intel have a monopoly on Desktop PC’s. I don’t think that they are as upset about legacy apps as you are.

Joe_HTH

“Yes, tablets and other formats will take a huge chunk of the end consumer PC market,”

That’s Microsoft’s main market, and you don’t see a problem with Microsoft getting their lunch eaten?

Jamie MacDonald

Not if he’s not a Microsoft employee, no.

Greg G

I agree all of these new device types are important, but the desktop as we know it will never completely die out. Microsoft as a company is/was very business focused, not “customer” focused (which explains things like Win ME and Vista dumped on consumers and not businesses) and it is in their best interest to keep business happy. The business world is still undergoing a long upgrade from Windows Server 2003 to 2008 and Windows XP to 7, not Windows 8. Perhaps their first attempt to try and be hip to the consumer was Win 8, and business has shunned it, as have every professional I know. Until/if the business world dumps laptops/desktop completely its unwise to attack their legacy choices.

By the by, its all been downhill since Windows 2000, despite 64,000 known defects on launch and four service packs (and one “security rollup” in lieu of SP5), this was the simplest and most nimble client version of Windows.

chojin999

WindowsXP and Windows7 have been much better than Windows2000.

There were so many bugs, issues and limitations on Windows2000.

For professional use WindowsServer2003 and WindowsServer2008 were better than Windows2000 too.

Instead Windows Vista worked only when SP1 was released and SP2 made it stable enough but it was too late, Windows7 was way better anyway at that point so Vista became useless even if fixed.

Windows8 and WindowsServer2012 with the unusable childish atrocious Metro is a huge mess and should just disappear.

Tig3RStyluS

I think each release has been better than previous. I agree that Vista was a bit of a nightmare but for me it became pretty good at SP1, but actually matured very nicely with SP2.. too many teething problems and never recovered its reputation especially considering it was released when XP was SP2 and by then a really good OS, with SP3 released shortly afterwards which only made XP faster and better. But i think many people forget all of the issues with XP before SP1. I remember my virgin install of it with BSODs during installation, it was terribly unstable, allowing 1 app to regularly take down the whole OS… it was also pretty insecure by default.

Whilst 7 was a huge improvement in terms of (capability and QA) over the previous 2, it also had some really irritating problems at launch with really basic and noticeable stuff that almost every consumer or prosumer would get hit by… file copy speeds being dire, continued media library issues with WMP library corruption if you had more than a handful of MP3 in your library just to name a couple…

In contrast, windows 8 has had almost nothing so damaging… the main complaint (which was avoidable by MS) has been no start button and as a knock-on effect, people criticising the Start Screen. For me, the biggest issue with Windows 8 were the rough edges, some of which still need improving, like when you view photo’s or video’s in thumbnail (in metro not classic) having literally only the thumbnails and no useful data that helps you identify one file from another. Those bits feel incomplete and are cause for complaint but the rest of the OS, with or without start button/btd is a really good OS imo with less issues at launch than my previous darling windows 7.

If MS do add options for boot to desktop and a start button, i doubt it will have any effect on most of the Anti-MS trolls on here who havent even used the OS.

Joe_HTH

First of all, businesses are not going to upgrade to Windows 8 even if Microsoft allows them to boot to desktop, because they are already in the process of upgrading to Windows 7. Enterprise are notoriously slow with upgrades regardless of how good or bad a version of Windows is. Most are still on XP. They don’t like to upgrade because of the cost of downtime and training of employees. It has nothing to do with Windows 8.

“Perhaps their first attempt to try and be hip to the consumer was Win 8”

It has nothing to do with being hip. Microsoft didn’t change Windows to be hip or for the sake of change. They changed because they realized the world is moving to touch devices and their main OS needed to be competitive in that market, in order to be relevant in the future. If you kill Metro and the Windows Store, then Windows tablets are completely dead in the water, because developers will abandon Metro apps. Microsoft may as well cancel all future Surface tablets.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

Legacy support, has been what MS has used to keep rolling along at (once upon a time, over 90% of PC market share). you installed a new OS, maybe updated a few drivers, and all your shit still worked. The desktop will not die. Thats a but like saying Trucks are going the way of the dodo because they aren’t as efficient as hybrids. sure their market share is down, but they will never die, they still have a purpose that is not fulfilled by other means. the desktop share is shrinking, sure, but Enterprise/business customers will continue to use it for many (OS) generalizations to come, and gamers and a large piece of the power user pie will stay with the desktop. If you dont like it, dont use it. use Linux, Or iOS or android, or Chrome OS, or Firefox OS or any of the ones that will come out over the next decade and rob another 1-2% from MS. There are more than 2 players now, everyone gets a smaller piece.

Joe_HTH

First of, there are not enough gamers to impact anything. Secondly, Microsoft still has 90% of the market, but that market is going to continue to decline. The PC decline didn’t start with Windows 8. It started long before Windows 8 launched, and there’s not going to be a resurgence of the desktop. Fewer and fewer people need or want a big box or a large all-in-one PC on their desk when they can do everything with a thin and light tablet that they can do on their desktop, except for maybe hardcore gaming.

Your crazy if you don’t think tablets and smartphones will be the dominant computing force for the future.

you may not need a large PC anymore, but you are not the rest of the PC market. I own a tablet, and do not use it. I prefer my “large desktop”, even to surf the web. sure my triple screen setup and gaming grade mouse and keyboard are unneeded, but they are far more comfortable for things besides gaming that a stylus or a finger or three. I do CAD work, I do digital content creation (flash and other such web things), i build levels for games which requires heavy graphics work, and i also play them, i transcode video on a weekly basis, there is a significant amount of things that a tablet (even from next year) can not do. I work for the largest online retailer on the planet, and i can tell you, there are HUNDREDS of PC’s in this building alone, and not a single tablet. The consumer is not the only player in the PC world, BUSINESS makes up a rather large part of it.

If you dont want or need a PC, then dont use one.

Ray C

I’m not sure any of that has anything to do with a new UI. Microsoft was going to have a new OS at some point, and there will always be programs that don’t work with a new OS. They can still have Metro and capture old customers. I have yet to find anything I could do on 7 I can’t do on 8

chojin999

You are on crack if you think that people will only use tablets and smartphones in the future.

The hardware performance on tablets and smartphones will never match that on desktop.
Also a tablet can’t replace a desktop for too many tasks.
An iPad is excellent to do a lot of things but if you don’t have a desktop you are missing too many options.

Desktop PCs are going nowhere. And tablets will keep improving too just like smartphones.

None of the three is going to disappear.

Joe_HTH

“The hardware performance on tablets and smartphones will never match that on desktop.”

It doesn’t have to. Tablets have 9-10 hours of battery life, well except for Intel’s Ivy Bridge tablets, and can do just about everything a PC can do just as well. The only people who give a shit about the power and performance of a desktop is hardcore gamers. Unfortunately, they are a niche market at best.

“Also a tablet can’t replace a desktop for too many tasks.”

Other than hardcore gaming, name one meaningful task that a tablet can’t do? I can use Office on my tablet. I can plug in USB peripherals on my tablet. I can print from my tablet. I can surf the web, do email, look at photos and video, and do Facebook and Twitter just as well on my tablet as I can on my desktop, with a far thinner and lighter device that I can take anywhere? I can play casual games and a few more core-oriented games. So name me one meaningful task?

“Desktop PCs are going nowhere.”

Desktop PC market is declining at an alarming rate, and was doing so long before Windows 8 launched. It’s not going to stop simply because Microsoft let’s users boot to the desktop. That’s not why the desktop market is declining.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

Autocad. Digital content creation. Video editing/transcoding, there is a significant amount of software that requires at least a decent desktop, if not a full workstation class machine. sure, adobe has some mobile ish flavors or photo editing, but its not the same.

VirtualMark

They can’t do “just about everything” a desktop can do! You’re deluded.

some_guy_said

Modern i5 win8 pro tablets can do most of what a desktop/laptop can do. That’s true.

The part that Joe_HTH missed was that why would you do serious work without a mouse and keyboard. And why would you use a mouse and keyboard with a touch based interface?

The point here is that even if 95% of computing devices are tablets in the future…You’ll still want to use it like a desktop when you want to do a lot of data entry or other work – It doesn’t matter that it’s a tablet or not.

Gabe Rivera

Just a dumbass NOC/Mainframe operator here.
HAHAHAHA…”Other than hardcore gaming, name one meaningful task that a tablet can’t do?” How about load the 33 monitoring tools I use every day to maintain our data center and network?

I can see it all clearly now: all 32 apps/windows open at the same time on a
tablet or iPad at equal or faster speeds than my lowly 6 core workstation and three 27 inch monitors. Yep, what a sight I tell ya. The desktop dead you say. Well you are the king of your world, so rule and think as you wish. HAHAHAHA…

http://www.maza20.wordpress.com/ Vista lover

“Ask your local gamer if they can install 8 high end video cards on a cell
phone.
Ask your local manufacturer if they can run their industrial supply line off of an iPad.
Ask a movie junky if they can put their 60 terabyte RAID array in an e-Reader.

Some idiots realized all they ever used a computer for was looking at
pictures of cats and random clips from ‘Family Guy’, and replaced it with a
mobile device. That does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that the PC is dead.”

IntelligentAj

This comment sums it up nicely

Tig3RStyluS

Couldnt have put it better myself.

AnonXX7

You said: “Nobody is suggest that desktops should die, but they are declining rapidly.”

You also said: “The desktop should die. It’s an archaic legacy dinosaur.”

That’s all I am going to say about that.

“can do just about everything a PC can do just as well. “

lol have fun playing your Metro app games and tweeting. The desktop PC market is falling because Facebook has created a bunch of attention-hungry idiots who need to have some kind of electronic bulls*** thrown in their face constantly. Add this to the fact that Apple has convinced these morons (not that it was hard to do) that their laptops/tablets are superior and don’t get viruses, and there is your cause for the falling PC market.

Before you so hastily place us in the category described above, which you are no doubt a member of, keep in mind that there are still people out there who know how to administer a computer. Many of us still build PCs to use for productive purposes. I have friends that build media PCs to store all kinds of movies that they can access from their TV over a home network (sorry if that concept melted your brain). There are also some of us who enjoy teaming discrete GPUs together to drastically decrease the time required for a brute force. But yeah you could probably use a tablet for that..lol

My suggestions for you:
1. Learn how to use a computer.
2. Learn to use an OS besides Windows or Mac and tell me desktops should die.
3. Don’t post here.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

damn…. tell him how you REALLY feel! lol

RHEY

You certainly have some hard-on for touch interfaces. Don’t worry touch will be obsolete as gesture and voice UI become easier to use.

You obviously don’t use computers for a living. Tablets are super great and every one is buying one, but they can’t replace desktops more than laptops replace desktops.

mindfighter15243

I believe he gets a hard-on for the replies to his comments. Maybe we should stop feeding the fire and allow him to believe whatever he wants.

Greg Giese

Anything that requires one to type, look at a screen bigger than a book, requires multiple monitors, requires an add-in card of any sort, requires a fast hardwired ethernet cable(s). oh wait….ANYTHING I CURRENTLY DO AT MY JOB.

My desktop doesn’t appear to be dying. In fact, I’ll wager it has many times the performance of your shitty tablet!

jhewitt123

As long as there are humans who know how computers actually work, there will be a market for desktops to satisfy their needs. The existence of one depends on the other.

http://www.facebook.com/jay.p.908 Jay P

This guy should have his posting privileges revoked

http://www.facebook.com/andrew.fernie Andrew Fernie

What, because his comments happen to annoy you? I hope you never run for public office. Besides, if Joe was stopped from flaunting his ignorance in his posts, where would I get my entertainment from?

meilenberger62

I use an Ultrabook as a desktop to develop mobile applications as well as any other type of application. I can’t imagine using the computer in “tablet” mode to develop software. So I can’t imagine anybody who does “real” work will be doing it on a tablet or phone. Tablets and smart phones can replace a personal computer at home for sure, but not everybody just sits around checking Facebook every 5 minutes when you have a job.

Joe_HTH

Great move Microsoft. Change Windows 8 into Windows 7, allowing Windows users to ignore Metro and the Windows Store. Developers will then abandon Metro and the Windows Store, because why build apps for an ecosystem that nobody uses. That will in turn make Windows tablets a complete non-starter, mean they have no chance to succeed in the future. So what he have is Microsoft setting themselves back 5 years at least, and being stuck with an antiquated, bloated, non-touch OS that does nothing to address or compete with a market that’s about to be dominated by touch devices. But they’ll make a killing in a declining market that will continue to decline.

Marrach

Tablets are here to stay. No-one disputes that. This is a case of M$ trying to force the Market to eat something it has NO NEED for. If I want a Tablet, I’ll buy one. When I put down my tablet, I’ll turn to my PC. There’s nothing wrong with that.
What’s wrong and weird is the angry growls from people like you who INSIST that because it’s NEW, the rest of us must get in line and change. Sometimes it works and the market moves with you…and sometimes it DOES NOT work and you get stomped.

Change happens…but not always at the pace you like.

Joe_HTH

“If I want a Tablet, I’ll buy one.”

Yes, you and tens of millions of other people. The problem is that tablet won’t be running Windows. If you can’t see the problem with that, then you’re hopeless. Not to mention BYOD is cutting in on Microsoft’s enterprise action.

Marrach

“…The problem is that tablet won’t be running Windows…”

And whose problem is that? Not Mine.

And the last time I looked at my Bank Account, I saw no Direct Deposit from Steve Ballmer, so Microsoft’s Battle Royale against the iPad is only vaguely interesting to me. Oh..and I don’t own MSFT stock…so again, it doesn’t matter to me.

I’m not being facetious…I’m being plain & honest. Why is it so IMPORTANT to you? If you own stock, say so, then it would make sense. If you’re a Microsoft coder, again, I MIGHT see the connection– but haranguing customers who don’t LIKE your Product usually doesn’t work. If anything, Microsoft Coders should be PAYING ATTENTION to the Start Screen backlash and ask themselves: What can we do to accommodate these customers and strengthen our brand? The beauty of Code and Legacy is that the OS is flexible enough to accomodate and keep moving. But now the Programmers treat code as Inflexible Laws that must be obeyed.

Instead, what we heard was: “Take away that choice and make the users eat the Start Screen until they Like it!”

Did I have a cow over it? Nope. I just bought some more OEM Windows 7 installs for my office and stashed them away for a rainy day. The same way I kept my office running on Win 2000 and XP while waiting for Vista to die a decent death.

The Start Button is practically a Worldwide Cultural Icon now. And KEEPING it really doesn’t hurt anyone, except for some overzealous coders, so why not leave us the choice? YOU can touch your Start Screen to your heart’s content.

William Libbrecht

But, shouldn’t that only actually be true of the “declining” number of desktop users? If windows is installed on more and more touch screen devices, won’t those users prefer, and therefore keep, the start screen? Wouldn’t it then continue to grow and develop? Forgive me for saying so, but the logic of this discussion seems a bit inconsistent. After all, isn’t that what Microsoft is doing, offering a choice to users?

BaconTroll

I can see skipping to the desktop, but I like the start screen so I hope they don’t do something stupid like tie the 2 together. Now that I have my start screen laid out the way I want I can’t imagine going back to what I consider a pain in the butt start menu. But starting with the desktop, that would work for me on my main machine.

Kellic

DOOOO EET! DOOO EET!!!

Seriously. I passed on a free copy with my Zenbook last fall.

http://www.facebook.com/dorian.deyet Dorian Deyet

Good

http://gcomputer.net/ Gray Knight

I like Windows 8 on the desktop and have no problem with the start screen. It is a much improved start menu. Re-adding the start menu would be a mistake and booting to the desktop is pointless. I don’t open the desktop first, I open an application first, like IM+ or Outlook. I don’t need to see the desktop as much as I need to get Visual Studio and SSMS running ASAP.
I have my doubts that these finds are real and/or going to actually be used. What I really would like is resizable windows of Windows Store apps. I am currently using Modern Mix from Stardock, unfortunately it doesn’t keep the windows from going black if you are in more than one app at a time.

meddle0ne

“Both of these options, if they find their way into the final build of Windows Blue, would be an implicit admission from Microsoft that it got the Windows 8 mouse-and-keyboard experience horribly wrong.”
No it doesn’t. It means that they are adding it to appease their customers that want these options. I will continue to use the start screen with a multi-touch track pad regardless. If you like the start button, and they add it back. Knock yourself out!

Phil

What I find interesting is that the barriers preventing windows 8 from being better are self imposed by Microsoft. There was never any reason not to have these things in win8, there has always been a huge number of people asking for them, and now it’s just a question of whether Microsoft will listen or choose to be forceful.

VirtualMark

Wow, good news! It might finally be worth upgrading.

kurttheking

I think there is a lot of confusion due to the lack of need for Win8 on a desktop, the growth of tablets, and the power in a modern PC that most people will not need.

Win8 isn’t killing desktop sales. There are still many Win7 machines out there to buy. People just don’t need a new desktop every year. Tablets can do email and surf and take some of the market. MS really needed to pair the OS down to work on tablets. That’s a good thing if PC sales decline and new PCs become much more expensive. Can Win8 speed up an older PC like linux?

It is amusing that MS tested Win8 with desktop customers. Probably the same beta testers that liked the ribbon in Office 2007.

I’m sad for declining PC sales as that means that eventually newer more powerful PCs will be much more expensive. I’m writing this on my dual 24″ screens with 16GB of RAM and 6-64 bit cores running at 3.8-4.2 GHz and still contemplating building a faster box.

Sinned66

Put a red nose on Steve Ballmer and you can see what a clown he really is.

Now if they would stop charging for their new Window versions – once you have bought one – we would be even happier.

IntelligentAj

I think people are confusing the consumer market and the Enterprise Market. The ‘Metro’ System was designed for the Consumer market to combat the Crunch that MS is feeling from the uptick in tablets. To those who say PC’s are dying: it will be quite some time, I’d say a decade or more, before Tablets come anywhere close to replacing PC’s in the Enterprise space.

And I don’t know about most of you but I prefer a PC monitor or TV screen over a 10-12″ screen

Harry_Wild

All Microsoft has to do is just cut and paste the code from the pre-release version of Windows 8 to include the option to boot straight to the desktop — and possibly the much-loved Start button, too. It was a build in January 2012 version given to developers.

iron_dinges

“Microsoft knew that if it gave users thechoice of sticking with the Start button and menu, the Metro interface would have died a swift death, taking with it Microsoft’s future in the consumer space.”

Thank you, this finally makes sense to me. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they were forcing metro when so many people weren’t interested.

If this ends up being the case in 8.1, I think I might just upgrade.

Ray C

Microsoft doesn’t need to do this. Thought it would be nice, and I never liked the idea of Metro, it’s not the move to make. It would be nice if my parents paid my mortgage, but that doesn’t mean they should. Instead of going back to the start menu and desktop, they need to find a way to make metro work more like the start menu and desktop. All they simply have to do is have tile sets or have less tiles by default. Just put only tiles that match the main things you would go to on start menu, deskop, and taskbar: IE, Mail, All Programs/Applications, Media Player, Settings/Control Panel, Shutdown and Restart. The main problem with Metro is not that it’s unusable. They should have also added a back or close button to every app. A lot of people don’t know you can close an app in Win8. That’s why I hate iPad. I hate having to go all the way back to the beginning. There should be a back button like there is on my Windows Phone. The problem is you have to figure out how to make the jump from Desktop to Metro. They should have made it more like using the Desktop/Start but in a different way.
The desktop is going away at some point. Touch is the feature. One day computers will be more like computers from Star Trek or Minority report. At first, I hated that they got rid of the start menu, but how long can they keep doing he same old thing? Plus, touch laptops and monitors are get cheaper and cheaper, and as tablets start to take over more, similariaty between your computer and tablet can only be a good thing. Windows 8 isn’t bad. It just takes some getting used to. What I blame MS for is making it seem like there is so much of a learning curve. More people would have jumped right on Windows 8 if they simply made it easier and faster to get to the stuff you’re used to getting to.

RHEY

I think the problem is trying to make one UI for two different interaction techniques. If they are going to release on multiple control schemes they should have a user defined interface style not force desktops that are used for work flow to use a touch optimized UI. For those of you baffling on about how tablets will replace desktops, go get a job. Tablets will at best replace most of the needs for laptops for non-workflow tasks (you know typing, multitasking, programming, designing, etc.). You can’t do a many desk jobs with a tablet and the extra screen space means higher productivity. Desktops will not easily be replaced for the work environment, they maybe morphed with new interaction technology (voice, gesture, etc.) but something that fits that use case will always be needed and tablets don’t fit that bill.

RHEY

I think the problem is trying to make one UI for two different interaction techniques. If they are going to release on multiple control schemes they should have a user defined interface style not force desktops that are used for work flow to use a touch optimized UI. For those of you baffling on about how tablets will replace desktops, go get a job. Tablets will at best replace most of the needs for laptops for non-workflow tasks (you know typing, multitasking, programming, designing, etc.). You can’t do a many desk jobs with a tablet and the extra screen space means higher productivity. Desktops will not easily be replaced for the work environment, they maybe morphed with new interaction technology (voice, gesture, etc.) but something that fits that use case will always be needed and tablets don’t fit that bill.

ee mail

Baldy is making a kill
by shooting himself

Ray C

Can we please just be honest and call it what it is? The only reason people want to go back to the old style of Windows is because they’re used to it. We’ve been using it so long, we don’t want to change. I felt the same way at first. But once people get used to it, and at some point they will have to, all this outcry about the start menu and desktop will die. In the end not that I’m starting to be objective and not just hating Metro because it’s not the desktop, I can honestly say that Metro in itself is not the problem. The problem is that Microsoft should have designed it in a way where you can get to the top 10 things you would on the usual desktop the fastest. I shouldn’t had to fumble around and figure out how I shutdown or restart the computer. There are a couple others but that is the first that comes to mind.

http://www.facebook.com/tmkuskie Tyler Kuskie

No windows blue is Win server 2012. The actual code name that Microsoft has told everyone to use is Win 9, Win blue has been around since win 8 was first given to all the OEM and Hardware manufactures.
Sources: Working at Intel with the Microsoft driver cert teamhttp://www.tktechteam.com/

meilenberger62

This is so ridiculous. I use Windows 8 with keyboard and mouse and I prefer it over the old interface by a huge margin. It took a while to “get it”, but after I “got it” I can’t imagine using that stupid start button.

Harry_Wild

After months of internal debate at Microsoft; they made a deal with top management where they will bring back the Start Button but not the Start Menu. Also I heard that they will try to eliminate all the third party utilities that duplicate the look and feel of Windows 7 UI as part of the compromise with the top management. Windows 8 development management felt that they could live with the new changes in the new edition of Blue. Top management wanted to bring back the full Windows 7 UI as an option. Windows 8 development team fought this and arrive at this compromise.

geodyn

I’m finding the backlash to windows 8 a bit over the top. At first I was a little offput by windows 8, but grew to accept it. Yes I would like to see the start button back. But other than that, no complaint.
Microsoft is making a smart decision to harmonize across all devices. This is likely their only way to stay relevant in the multi-device world we live in now. I do believe though that they need to produce an enterprise edition that focuses more on the desktop with the start screen being pushed to the background.
But for all other version, they need to stick to their guns with the start screen upfront. If they don’t, windows 8 will go the same direction as their media center (no one will use it or get use to it). However, compared to media center, which I never could get to like for use on my media center computer, windows 8 was elegant enough for me to buy a copy to load on my media center computer. I find it succeeds where media center was clunky.
And finally, as far as the learning curve, the only thing required to quickly get up to speed on windows 8 is the start key. That could be better described to new users along with some hints while using windows 8 to press it. Other than that, the learning curve for windows 8 was a much faster transition for me than trying to use a macintosh computer. I use to love mac when PCs were still in DOS, but now after years of getting rusty, I tried going back to using one and did not have a clue how to do simple operations. For a new user, windows 8 should be as easy as any ios device to get started on.

http://twitter.com/JoeBrockhaus joe brockhaus

“The simple fact of the matter is that the Start screen is a pig to control with a mouse and keyboard, and if you don’t have a touchscreen device.. “

This is just so absolutely untrue. There is nothing about a full-screen application (that’s all the Start Screen is) that makes it a pig to control. If you had to hold a special keyboard button to simulate a fingertap or something, then yes, it would be. But that’s not the case.

Touch-first UI is NOT antithetical to high-precision UI. The opposite, however, can and usually is true. It’s a bit like a square and rectangle; a rectangle isn’t always a square, but a square is always a rectangle.

Moreover, long before touch was a viable input, usability studies showed that making things bigger and further apart made it easier for users to interact with and control, and this was for mice! And best practices reflected that.

But now that the target audience CAN BE touch users, somehow all those usability metrics and practices are somehow not relevant anymore? Oh, because an application takes up the whole screen, moving your mouse around the same damn screen as you always ever did is unusable?

FFS, wash the hyperbole off already!!

http://twitter.com/billcat42 Bill Cat

Maybe someone will figure out soon we can’t actually edit and get any real work done on with our fat fingers alone on a tablet. Sure I have a tablet and a phone but I need to upgrade my pc soon for all the real work that requires editing and a larger screen and Windows 8 sucks so bad trying to be an inferior tablet when it is a PC I am still waiting. Please hardware manufactures, try Ubuntu if Windows keeps screwing up, let us have something good to buy soon.

GMAN73

If they restore the start menu and boot straight to desktop then I will upgrade, but until that happens Im sticking with Windows 7.

http://www.facebook.com/Corelogik Bruce D. Jenner

What I don’t like specifically and will never like is the fact that to use the “start screen” I have to cover my entire desktop and everything I’m doing. This is ridiculous and unneeded. If they had put a button where the start button was, and had the start screen open as a 1/3 menu or similar, the backlash would not be as bad.

As long as the “start screen” insists on covering my entire desktop to be used, I will never use it. I have 4 OEM Win7 licenses in the closet plus the one Im using on my PC now,… I’m good for a good long while. I can wait a hell of a longer for Microsoft to fix it, than they can for me to like it.

Windows 8 as it exists, is like having to close the cover of a book, to turn the page. Or having to turn over your dinner table to look at the menu,…

Utterly ridiculous.

Oh, and desktops are going exactly nowhere. Until the next evolution of cpu’s happens, beyond SoI and copper interconnects, desktop PC’s will be where all the heavy lifting and immersive experience happens.

Josh

Last part of article:

“Not with malicious, recalcitrant intent, of course, but because it had no other choice: Microsoft had to forcefully convert its ginormous horde of Windows XP, Vista, and 7 users to the new touch-first Metro paradigm to have a hope in hell of challenging Android and iOS in the mobile space. Microsoft knew that if it gave users the choice of sticking with the Start button and menu, the Metro interface would have died a swift death, taking with it Microsoft’s future in the consumer space.”

In other words, removing the Start button/menu was neither a technical nor an aesthetic/usability decision. It was a *marketing* decision.

Quite a scummy way to do your business. Typical Microsoft.

Prediction: Windows 8.1 will be a flop, and so will Microsoft’s little stubborn sojourn into ‘smaller tablets’. People want tablets: just not the Windows ones. Doesn’t matter what size those tablet are.

It’s amazing Steve Ballmer still keeps his job.

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